I'll Stay With You
by XxChelceexX
Summary: Thanks to Deidara, Hana learns what it means to trust in herself and the world around her. And that when you let it, life...is a blast!
1. Life in the Tiger's Nip

**So I started writing this my sophomore year of high school. That was 2000…..4? No. 2008. I was way off… But anyway I never finished this story for whatever reason. I'm now a Freshman in college and I started reading it and was like hmm…I'd like to finish but first I need to revise this…I don't like how I wrote it.**

**So this is my revised and hopefully finished version of I'll Stay with You. I'll be posting the revised chapters individually as I finish them. (College takes up a lot of my time.)**

**Thanks to everyone that had read and given me feedback. You're the main reason I continued to write and why I'm working to finish it.**

**I****do not****own Naruto or any of the characters from the series. I only own this plot and my own original characters.**

**Chapter 1**

It was a small trading center of a town. Few people lived there. It was more of a resting place for travelers and merchants than a home. Those who did live there were owned the businesses. Looking from the outside in, it would seem like a peaceful place with kind people. It was, save for one girl's home. It wasn't even a home to her. It was a prison. Her uncle owned an inn and she worked for him in exchange for a home in the attic.

"Get those dishes done and quit lazing around, you stupid bitch!" Meet Kaimaru, the richest man in town. People liked him for his manners and his sense of humor. Hana, on the other hand, experienced the side of him no one saw. If she wasn't being screamed at for not doing five jobs simultaneously, she was being reminded of how pathetic and worthless she was.A dish smashed to pieces on the wall just above her head. She held in her yelp and shielded her head from the scattering bits of glass, her arms taking the scratches for her face."Now clean that up! Then hurry up and finish those dishes, you freeloading tramp!"

Hana did what she was told, with no contest. Talking back in any way would get her a few more bruises she didn't want. This was a normal thing for her anyway. She was used to her uncle's frequent rampages. She sighed as she dropped the fragments of glass into the garbage bin by the sink. She was sick and tired of this. She wanted to run away, to leave, but where would she go? There was no one else and nowhere else to run to. At this point, it didn't really matter. She would go anywhere now. She needed to get away from this place. She was tired of being verbally abused and threatened every day of her life. She was tired of being around filthy, trashy men who made crude jokes about her and made suggestive gestures when she'd serve them. She was tired of being treated like one of her uncle's prostitutes, who were the main reason he was so rich. Kaimaru would threaten to sell her one day. Every day, she grew more afraid that her uncle would keep his promise.

Then one night, her nightmare came true.

The inn was especially busy. Hana was working twice as hard to keep up with the pace of things. She was the only dishwasher, and one of the few waitresses. She came out of the kitchen with a tray of food, heading for a table in the corner of the dining room.

"Here's your meal, gentlemen," she said politely to the men sitting at the table. There were five of them, and although they were well-dressed, none of them seemed like gentlemen. In fact, they seemed more piggish then her usual customers.

The man closest to her smirked. He said "Thanks, beautiful," and winked at her. Hana nodded respectfully and turned to leave, but was stopped by a hand that reached out and grabbed her arm. She turned around, flustered.

"Yes?"

"There's something else I'd like to ask of you," he said with a cocky grin on his face.

"What is it, sir? And will you please let go of me?" She tried to pull away but he didn't let go. Instead he stood up, leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Well, I noticed how lovely you are and was hoping you could give me and my friends some company for the night. We have a lot of money."

Hana was disgusted, but tried not to be disrespectful. It would anger her uncle.

"I'm just a waitress, sir. Now please let go of me." She managed to get her arm free but before she could away, she was yanked back.

"I don't care who you are. I just want to see your price tag." The man reached around and grabbed her rear end. "I promise you'll love it."

Out of pure shock and reflex, Hana slapped him across the face. "Don't you touch me like that," she hissed, glaring at him. "It's clear who's for sale here and who's not. Find someone else." At that, she turned and walked away, leaving the shocked group of men behind. Her stomach ached as she pushed through the door to the kitchen. _Damn it… You stupid idiot! Why would you- _

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

Hana didn't answer. She didn't have anything to say. She just kneeled and held her burning red cheek.

"**ANSWER ME!"**

"Uncle…" Hana whispered. "Those men-"

"Those men are my customers, you bitch! You treat them with respect and you do what they ask you. Don't you _ever_ think for a _second_ that you deserve any respect from them!"

Hana said nothing. She knew he was right… It had been a few weeks since her uncle's last drunken rampage. It was past due.

"YOU ARE NOTHING! DO YOU HEAR ME? _**NOTHING!**___YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR GOOD-FOR-NOTHING-FATHER AND WHORE MOTHER. _**TRASH!**_"

Hana's eyes stayed on the floor as she took the abuse in cold silence. It would stop soon…

"You know what?" growled the monster hovering over her. "I'm going to put you to good use for once." Hana's eyes hot up and saw the look in his eyes.

No… He wouldn't…


	2. Bad Turns to Worse

**Chapter 2**

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE! WHO WANTS HER? SHE'S NINETEEN AND UNTOUCHED!"

"Let go of me! Let go!" Kaimaru had dragged Hana out of the kitchen and into main dining hall. She struggled against her uncle, but nothing she could do could budge his ox-like build. Her uncle let go of her arm and grabbed her by the hair, rendering her helpless. There was no escaping now. She now looked upon a sea of hungry eyes. She felt like a rabbit being held up to a pack of hungry wolves. As horrible as she knew this man was, she never thought it would come down to this. She was going to be sold to the highest bidder, used and passed on to the next one. She was going to be nothing but a piece of flash for the rest her life and there was nothing she could do about it…

The crowd began to shout out their offers for her, holding up their money as if she were an expensive piece of furniture for auction. Despite the vice-grip her uncle had on her hair, Hana wriggled and struggled to break free. The pain brought even more tears to her eyes, but she had to fight. She wasn't going to just let this happen. Her futile attempts, to her disgust, were found amusing to the circle of men surrounding her. Eventually, her uncle grew tired of it and tightened his grip. The pain brought her to her knees. The tears began to flow as the bids grew higher.

"4,000!"

"4,200!"

"4,250!"

Kaimaru's smile grew broader as he imagined how fat his wallet was going to be. Never before had customers been so eager to pay so much money for one of his women.

"4,500!"

The bids became hesitant as they grew ever higher. A few men bitterly turned and left for their tables as the bid became too high for them to afford. Others stayed in hopes of winning the prize. Less and less bidders remained and Hana grew more and more hopeless.

_As if you're someone that deserves respect…That's what he said. Maybe he's right. I guess this was just meant to happen eventually… No! I don't deserve this! I'm better than this! ... Just give up…You know he's right. You're not meant for anything but living here your whole life. You'll never get out. You're worthless…_

"7,000."

The crowd buzzed with soft murmurs. One particularly rich-looking man had stepped forward had stepped forward and placed an offer no other man there wanted to contest. The man chuckled and Hana's body went stiff. She lifted her gaze and her eyes widened as her heart sank. It was him, the man who had harassed her earlier. He was eyeing Hana greedily, an arrogant smile plastered on his face. She was a wounded mouse and he was the cat watching its prey struggle with sick satisfaction. He had this one in the bag, for sure. The rest of the men around him looked at him with disgust and shock. At his offer, Kaimaru was shivering with excitement. There was a pause as Kaimaru listened for a higher offer. He began to laugh; Hana lowered her head in pathetic defeat.

"You're a good man, sir," he said. He reached forward to shake hands with the winner.

"7,100, hm..."

The crowd turned to look. Hana raised her bowed head to see a cloaked man step out from the dimly lit section of the inn and into the thin semicircle. He was young-looking with long blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail. A long bang hung loose to cover half of his face. The one eye Hana could see was a stunning bright blue. The cloak he wore was high-collared, knee-length, and embellished with red and black clouds. As hard as she tried, Hana couldn't look away from him. Why did he seem so…different?

"Ha!" the rich man barked at the blonde. "Little squirt wants to try to beat me? 7,800!"

The cloaked man turned his head to look at him with a smug grin.

"8,500, hm."

A bead of sweat trickled down the rich man's face. "Uh… 8,600"

"9,500."

Many people gasped, looking at the blonde man as if he were ludicrous. Over 9,000? The hand clutching Hana's hair clenched, pulling it even harder and making her whimper. The young man heard her and looked to Kaimaru.

"Let's just end this, hm. How about you give me the girl and I keep this building in one piece?"

The blonde's competitor took a step toward him. "What? You're a sore loser! Out of cash, hot shot? Mad because you can't get everything you want, ninja?"

Hana's head shot up and she stared cloaked man in front of her. _Ninja?_

The blonde glared at the arrogant rich man beside him. "Firstly," he warned, "I'd back off a little before I got hurt if I were you, hm. Secondly, if I really wanted this girl that badly, I'd already have her by now, without toying with you or playing this foolish little money game." He turned to Kaimaru. "So…What's it going to be, hm?" His gaze was challenging. He emitted an energy of danger, like a ticking time bomb. Kaimaru considered the situation.

"You're going to pay?"

"I'll give you your inn."

"A transaction requires money, kid."

"You need to just give it up. Do you want the money or your business?"

"Hey!" shouted the man beside the blonde. "You can't threaten him! I won this girl. You probably don't even have money." Starting to lose his patience, the blonde ninja glared over at him. He told him, "If you say another word, I'll blow you to pieces, yeah!" At this, the man took a few steps backward. With a snort, the blonde turned back to Kaimaru, giving him that challenging look once again.

"Well?"

Kaimaru was silent, thinking hard about what to do. Should he keep debating with the stranger or just give it up? He was a ninja, after all. Who knew what he was capable of? Also, the business he was running was illegal in this country. A ninja could be obligated to report it. Finally, he mumbled, "Fine. Take her. I don't want any trouble." The blonde smirked and stepped forward to retrieve Hana.

_It's final…NO! _Hana thought.. _I have to fight. I can't let this happen to me!_She then began writhing wildly, trying desperately to free herself from Kaimaru's grasp. She ignored the pain of her hair being pulled as she stood up. Her eyes glowed with defiance as she glared at the man approaching her.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, then tried to elbow her uncle in the gut. He caught her arm and lifted her to her feet. He released her hair to grab her other arm.

"Looks like this will be an interesting night, hm…" the blonde man stated, smiling at the girl struggling to break free from her uncle's grip. "give her to me."

"Gladly." Kaimaru then shoved Hana toward the cloaked stranger, laughing as she stumbled into his arms which immediately wrapped around her before she could regain her balance. Hana continued to struggle, frantically throwing punches into nowhere.

"Settle down, yeah! I'm not _that_ bad looking…" The blonde man started walking toward the stairs. Hana couldn't fight him. He was way too strong. She still tried to resist by yelling and kicking wildly into the air. She even tried biting. The man sighed. The next thing Hana knew, the world went black and she knew no more.


	3. Worse Becomes Confusing?

**Chapter 3**

She lay there, eyes closed and her body limp. He tried to keep her breathing steady. She could hear him just feet away, his chair creaking every time he shifted. Hana wondered how much time she had left, how long she had until he tired of waiting and came to wake her up himself. What if he didn't even bother waking her up and just pounced on her? She had to think, needed a plan… Should she wait until he came over to the bed? Getting up and running would be just plain stupid, of course. Hana was never very fast to begin with, and besides, he was sitting right next to the door. Fighting wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do but did she really have that much choice?

Hana dared to crack her eyelids open just enough to take a blurry look around. Did she have anything nearby to use as a weapon? There was a lamp on the nightstand beside the bed, but other than that her artillery was pitiful. _What the hell am I going to do?_

"You don't have to pretend anymore, hun. I know you're awake."

Hana went completely stiff. She didn't understand. She had stayed completely still and silent the whole time. Even when had woken up, she didn't dare to move. Was he just testing her?

The chair creaked; footsteps rung in Hana's ears. The edge of the bed sunk just inches from her feet. Her heart was pounding. It was now or never. She had to do it.

"You don't have to be scared, hm…"

Hana shot up, grabbed the lamp, and swung it full force at his head. With no trouble at all, he dodged the attack and got off the bed. The lamp smashed on the footboard of the bed.

"Settle down!"

"Yeah!" shouted a man through the wall from the room next door. "Don't wear 'im out too soon! You still have all night ahead of ya!"

Meanwhile, Hana was lunging at the blonde, leaping off the bed in a wild attempt to tackle him. That too failed miserably. He caught her in midair by the waist, holding her at arm's length. This didn't stop Hana from raining down a shower of punches.

"Hey! Will you-OUCH!" Hana had caught him on the side of the head. Now irritated, the man threw Hana down on the bed. Before she could regain herself, he leapt on top of her and pinned her down.

"Get off of me!" Hana screamed. She tried with all her strength to break free but it was useless. He was way too strong, much stronger than her uncle. She didn't give up though. She couldn't, she wouldn't. She struggled so hard that her arms ached. This man was on top of her ready to do whatever he wanted to do with her. She'd be damned if she didn't fight like hell.

"Listen to me! I'm not-stop fighting, hm!" Hana just fought harder. "Damn it…_STOP IT!_"

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!"

The blonde man growled and pressed more of his weight onto her. Now she could barely move at all. Spent, she ceased her struggling. She closed her eyes and looked away from him. He noticed the tears she was trying to fight back.

"Look," he said calmly, softening up his voice a little. "I'm not going to hurt you or have my way with you, hm. I'm not like that."

"Liar!" Hana shot fiercely, her eyes burning into his. "You bought me."

"If you remember correctly," he said, "I didn't buy you. I threatened that guy into giving you to me." He had to rephrase that. "I'm trying to tell you that I was helping you out back there. I wasn't going to let that guy sell you like an object to that rich bastard, hm. I knew you weren't a whore." He felt Hana relax a little, so he let off the weight he was putting on her. "I brought you up here to keep you from getting hurt and abused even more, yeah. I had no intention of using you like some prostitute." Hana said nothing and did nothing. She just looked up at him with a wide-eyed doe's expression.

"How's your cheek?"

Hana's breath caught in her throat. What was with this guy? Why did he… care? Why did he do something like this for her? What the hell made him so different? Why was he making her feel safe?

"Okay. I'm going to let you up now. You promise you won't attack me again, killer?" He smiled. The dumbfounded look on her face actually amused him. If it wasn't for the fact that she was scared out of her mind, he'd have laughed out loud. "Yeah?"

Hana slowly nodded once and the man released her. She sat up, rubbed her wrists, then looked at the blue-eyed man beside her.

"I don't understand," she said. "Why would you do that?" As much as she appreciated the fact that she wasn't being raped right now, she still couldn't understand why a man would step up to save her from that fate. Any man who came into this place knew very well the type of business her uncle ran.

"I knew what kind of place this was as soon as I walked in. I didn't care that women were selling themselves here, but I know what a whore is. You're not one. Every man there could see that you were being auctioned against your will. It's just that they didn't care. I did. That was wrong what he was doing."

"All men are liars and pigs… What makes you any different?" Hana asked.

"Obviously you've only met one kind of man, hm. Just trust me, hm. If I wanted to do anything to you do you think I'd be wasting my time trying to look like a nice guy when I'm perfectly capable of getting what I want very easily?" Once again, he had to rephrase that. "I'm not going to hurt you, hun."

_Hun? Why's he calling me that? Maybe he isn't going to do anything. I mean, he did have a point. Maybe I should trust him. He did help me, and I just tried to beat him up…_

"I…I'm sorry I tried to break the lamp over your head," she said softly. "And for hitting you." The man chuckled.

"It's fine, hm," he replied. "You were just defending yourself. It did kind of hurt though, yeah…" He smiled at her, then stood up and walked toward the door.

"You're leaving?" Hana asked.

"I'm just going to see if I can get some extra pillows and blankets. It's drafty in here. I'll be back, hm." The man answered. With his hand on the knob, he looked over his shoulder and told Hana, "I'm going to lock the door. Don't open it for anyone. When I get back, I'll knock like this, hm." He tapped a little rhythm on the door. Then he left.


	4. The Promise of a Better Life

**Here we are! Chapter 4! I'm SO sorry for taking so long. I've finally got my life back so I have more time to work on this. **

**Thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed. Every review means a lot to me, so thanks. 3**

**By the way, the rating of the story HAS been changed. There is no longer an 'M' rating. WOO! haha**

**I won't keep you any longer.**

--

He'd been gone for a while now. Hana took the opportunity to think her situation over. She had a strong urge to get up and leave the room, but she didn't think too highly of that idea. She knew what floor she was on, the one where men would bring their "dates" up for a little sleepover…

_Okay… I'm here in a room waiting on a guy who just saved my dignity as a human being… However… He could just be playing this off as just an act…I mean, come on! This is the Tiger's Nip, the bar known for it's special 'desserts'. This guy couldn't possibly be decent to be found in a place like that. On the other hand, he probably hasn't been through this town before, therefore he might not have known about all of that… He hasn't made any kind of move on me so far… Should I trust him or not? I just-_

"Hey!" BANG! BANG!

Hana's thoughts were interrupted by a loud pounding on the door.

"Room's occupied!" she hollered from the bed.

"By who?"

"Who do you think?!"

"…Is there a man in there?"

"…Yes…"

"…" Footsteps were heard growing faint, going away from the door.

Hana let out a sigh of relief. She thanked the heavens. For a moment there, she was worried that man was going to-

BANG!

Hana screamed. Some guy had just burst through the door! He stood in the doorway, holding an empty mug in his hand. His equilibrium a disaster, he swayed where he stood, eyeing Hana who was still in shock.

"There ain't no man in here!" the man barked, his speech somewhat slurred. He stared at Hana for a long moment, then turned and closed the door behind him, locking it.

"Get out of here!" Hana shouted, but the man paid no mind. Instead, he tossed his mug aside and started walking toward the bed, hands fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. Hana shook off the trace of fear in her and stood up, raising her fists.

"I'll hit you!" she shouted. "I won't hesitate!" At this, the man laughed.

"HA! My, my! Kaimaru really knows how to entertain his guests…"

_Damn it…_The man now stood by the bed, looking up at her with a disgustingly piggish grin.

Hana tackled him. She leapt off the bed with all the strength in her, catching the already intoxicated man off guard. On their way down, Hana gave the drunk a quick punch to the face.

"Oof! Geez, wom-OUCH!" He held in face in pain. Hana had landed a hard kick right in the center of it. Bull's-eye. Leaving him on the floor, Hana quickly stood up and bolted for the door. Just as she was reaching out for the knob, however, she tripped over the mug that was laying on the floor. Winded, she tried desperately to regain her breath. Before she could accomplish this though, she was grabbed by the hair for the second time that night. She was yanked up to look into the face of the angry drunk man.

"That's it," he said, the rancid smell of liquor burning in Hana's nostrils. "I'm tired of this damn game." Hana was then thrown to the floor, the man standing over her glaring down at her.

A small rhythm tapped on the door.

****

"HELP!"

The door immediately flew open with incredible force, knocking the drunken man aside. The next thing Hana saw was a flash of bright yellow and the man being tossed across the room. There was another streak of gold and black, then the man was thrown out of the room. The door was then slammed shut and Hana heard the click of the lock. The blonde man now stood over her, an agitated look on his face.

"I told you not to answer the door for anyone," he said, an annoyed tone in his voice.

"I didn't answer it," Hana replied, getting back onto her feet before he could offer his hand. "He broke in." She brushed off her skirt with her hands. She was quite shaken, not to mention embarrassed considering the action she had taken. She was thankful that nobody had seen what had just happened. On the other hand, she was grateful for the blonde man's timely arrival. She looked up at him, biting her lip, trying to find something to say.

"Thank you…I appreciate it," she said softly. "And thank you for earlier tonight, too."

The blonde man smirked down at Hana, who was nervously fiddling with her hands. She wasn't exactly used to this sort of kindness.

"It was nothing, yeah.

Hana looked up into the man's face. He was smirking. It wasn't the same rude, piggish grin she was used to, but it was, if anything, somewhat cocky. It seemed as though it was a substitute for an actual smile. _Who is this is guy?_

"The name's Deidara, yeah" the blonde stated, as if reading Hana's mind. Taken a little by surprise, she introduced her own self.

"I'm Hana."

Deidara nodded. "Nice to meet you Hana, yeah," he said.

"…Likewise..."

Deidara turned around, cracked open the door behind him and peeked out into the hallway. After a brief examination, he turned back around and closed the door behind him. Looking back at Hana, he then suggested that she have a seat. Not wanting to argue, she turned around and walked toward the chair in the corner, trying to stay clear of the bed. Deidara beat her to it, however. He lifted up the chair with one arm and casually walked over to the bed, placing the chair beside it. He sat with the chair backwards, letting his chest rest on the back. Hana, still not wanting to argue with the man, gave in and took a seat on the edge of the bed, facing the blonde. Not feeling exactly comfortable sitting face to face with him, she turned and sat with her back against the headboard, crossing her legs into a comfortable position.

"So," Deidara began. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Hana sighed. "I live here," she replied, sighing. She bit the inside of her lip and looked down at her fingernails. She couldn't bring herself to peer into that piercing blue orb of his, so she just avoided it. She didn't like it. It gave her chills…

Deidara snorted. "Humph! That's one hell of a landlord, yeah!"

"He's my uncle…"

Deidara looked taken aback. "_That_ guy's your _uncle, yeah_?!"

Hana nodded.

"Why haven't you left?"

"It's not like I have any other place to go," Hana replied roughly, finally looking him in the eye. "Besides," she averted her eyes from his, focusing on one of the clouds on his black cloak. "Even if I did try to leave he'd just find me and bring me back here."

"So you do want to leave, yeah?"

"Yeah…"

There was a silence. Hana fiddled with her skirt; Deidara rested his chin on his crossed arms, eye staring at the floor as he pondered. The two remained silent, the only thing heard was the dull sound of music downstairs and faint yelling from the rooms around them. Finally, Deidara raised his head and looked at Hana. Before he could say anything, there was a knocking on the door. He stood from his seat, murmuring, "It's about time, yeah…"

Hana saw Deidara walking towards the door. She watched him intently as he crossed the room, noting how he made next to no sound as he walked on the hardwood floor. Not even a creak… _That's a ninja for you, I guess… _Deidara opened the door and there stood one of the maids holding an armful of blankets. He took the blankets and sheets from her and nodded in thanks. After that, he turned away and closed the door with his foot.

"What are those for?" Hana asked.

"Just in case it gets cold in here, yeah," Deidara answered, walking over to the bed. He set the pile of blankets on the foot of the bed. "Here," he said and handed the top one to Hana. She took it with a small word of thanks. It was a bit chilly in the room, after all. As she lifted it from his hands, what she saw in his palm made her gasp. It was a mouth!

"What is it, yeah? Oh…right…" Deidara pulled his hands away and looked down into his own palms. "These," he said. "I'm surprised you're just now noticing them. They're instruments for creating my art." He dropped his arms to his sides and asked, "At first I thought they were the reason you didn't like me. A lot of people are like that, yeah." He met here gaze. "You probably find them repulsive, right?"

Hana shook her head. "No," she said. "It just caught me off guard, that's all. I don't find it repulsive, no. Believe me. When you live in a place like this, you see a lot of things more shocking than those." At this, Deidara laughed.

"You're just having it all thrown at you tonight, yeah?" he joked, earning a frown from the turquios brunette beside him. He cleared his throat and brought a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. Thoughts then traveled to their previous conversation.

"Hana," he said; Hana raised her eyebrows to show that he had her attention. "You told me that you want to leave this place, yeah. Why not come with me?" he asked. This made Hana do a double-take.

"What?!"

"My partner and I are traveling, eh, somewhere. There's a village on the way. We could drop you off there. I'm sure you'll like it a lot better than here, yeah."

Hana didn't know what to say. Of course, her mind was shouting _YES! _but another part was tentative about the situation. How could she leave? _Simply pack your things and go. It's not physically demanding or anything… _She had no idea what or where this village was. _Of course not. You have trouble finding the _flower shop _in _this_ place… _She'd just be extra luggage. _If that were so, he wouldn't be asking, Hana. _What if her uncle came after her? _Not if he knew who you were with. This guy probably took the color right out of Kaimaru's face. He'd mop the floor with your uncle… _Why was she talking to her herself?

"He's going to do this again, yeah," Deidara said, bringing Hana back to reality. "And next time, I won't be there to help you. I can tell you still don't trust me fully, but you're going to have to try, yeah. I promise on my partner's head I won't hurt you or let anything happen to you, yeah. I want to help you. You can have a different life, yeah. Think about it."

Hana sat and pondered while Deidara patiently waited. _What have I got to lose?_ she told herself._ Seriously. I have no friends and an uncle that can't go a day without screaming at me about how pathetic I am. _She stole a glance of the blonde beside her. _he knows I don't trust him… I want to. He hasn't done anything wrong to me. He's actually done nothing but help me tonight. _She sighed. _What _do _I have to lose? Why not take a chance?_Finally, after a few more moments of debating, Hana made up her mind.

"Fine," she said.

Deidara's only visible eyebrow rose. He said, "I take that as a yes, yeah?" and Hana nodded in response.

"Well then," he said, sitting up straight and placing his hands on his knees, "You should get some sleep, yeah. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning." He then stood up, walked over to the bed and picked up a comforter and a pillow from the pile he had left there earlier. Hana watched him as he placed the blanket on the floor and tossed the pillow down on top of it.

"You're not going to sleep on the floor, are you?" Hana asked, feeling a pang of guilt.

"I've slept in worse places, yeah." Deidara chuckled. "It's a pretty comfortable place compared to others I've had to sleep in."

"But-"

"Surely you don't want me in the bed with you, yeah? And I'm not letting you sleep on the floor, yeah. "

"I can go to my own room."

"No. You're staying here where I know you'll be safe, yeah."

Hana sighed. There wasn't any arguing with him, she concluded. His voice was stern and final. She looked down at the spare blankets Deidara had left behind. She slid off the bed and took the remains of the pile.

"Here," she said, holding them out to Deidara, who was adjusting his bed on the floor. "Take these. You'll be more comfortable." His eye scanned her questioningly for a second, but he took the blankets nonetheless.

"Thanks, yeah," he said, spreading out his new additions to his bed. Satisfied, Hana walked back over to her own bed. She reached for the light switch after getting Deidara's consent. The room was still dimly lit even with the light off, for silver moonlight poured through the small window. Hana had no trouble finding her way under the sheets. Fatigue immediately took over as she got comfortable under the large comforter that enveloped her. Before she could sleep, however, she let the night's events run through her mind one last time.

_You're _nothing! _You hear?! Nothing!…Who wants her?! She's nineteen and untouched!…The name's Deidara, yeah…I'm not going to hurt you…You can have a new life, yeah. Think about it…_

"You're really going to take me to a better place?" she asked aloud.

"Yeah," came Deidara's voice from across the room. He was removing his cloak and Hana heard the thud of shoes being removed. "It'll take some time to get there, but you'll like it, yeah."

Hana was quiet for a moment, then remembered that Deidara spoke of a partner. She asked, "Will your partner mind?" She heard a heavy snort.

"If anything, he'll enjoy another ear to talk off, yeah"

Hana didn't quite know how to take that, but she smiled anyway. It was a better answer than what she'd expected. Her final thoughts before the world drifted away were what it would be like to travel, to finally live and see new things. She thought of what was to be her new home. She didn't care where it was, really. She knew it would be better than were she was now. Her mind drifted to the blonde man just feet from her on the floor. She was going to remember, despite his generosity, to be careful. No matter what, she still couldn't help being suspicious. After all, he was a man, but at the same time, he was nothing like the others. There was something about him… she couldn't quite place her finger on it. It didn't feel like a bad thing, but she would be cautious nonetheless.

"G'night, yeah," was the last thing she heard before being swept off to the subconscious world.

"…Night…"


	5. Mission: Escape!

**_WOOO! CHAPTER 5 FINALLY!! For all of you who were patient, thank you. For the ones that kicked me in the shin and told me to get moving, THANK YOU. Well here you go. Thank you EVERYBODY for reading and reviewing. Nothing makes me happier than seeing that someone actually likes the stuff I write. _**

**_-chelcee- 3_**

Dawn came quickly the next morning. The Sun rose to illuminate the Earth once more, casting a golden hue over the land with its first rays of morning light. It was a sunrise comparable with the first dawn of time, a new beginning.

Hana lay in bed, sleeping soundly under the heavy blankets. The room's small window let in the warm rays of the morning sunlight. A silent wave of gold crept its way up onto the bed. It slowly made its way to her slumbering form, gently warming her face as it engulfed her. She shifted from the new warmth, turning her back to the light.

A yawn from across the room made her eyes twitch. _Oh great…No! Go back to sleep… _It was too late. Hana was already awake. Eyes still closed, she turned onto her other side and wave of bright red and heat hit her once again. She brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the annoying sunlight.

"Finally, awake, yeah?" came a familiar male voice. Hana opened her eyes beneath her hand. As she stared up into her own palm, the memories of the night before ran through her mind.

"We'll be heading off soon, yeah," Deidara said, still unseen. Hana heard him putting his shoes and cloak back on. "When you get out of bed, you can go and get your things, yeah."

Hana sat up, mumbling to herself about how the Sun could go die. She glanced over at the blonde ninja standing in the center of the room. His ponytail was undone, letting flow a long river of silky yellow hair. Strangely, it made Hana envious. Shaking the thought away, she got out of bed and stretched. _Wow… _she thought. She felt very refreshed. She had not had a sleep like that in a long time.

"So I'll meet you downstairs?" she asked, slipping her shoes on.

"Yeah," Deidara answered, pulling a section of hair into a ponytail on top of his head. If I'm not down there, check outside. Take your time."

Her hair was still damp from the quick shower she had just taken. She had already folded and packed all of her clothes. Now she going through her room and collecting the few possessions she had that were worth taking. The things she did find were some basic hygiene necessities, an extra pair of shoes, and some savings she had kept over the years. Hana stopped by her bed and set down her black bag of belongings. She lifted the top mattress and took a square object from underneath it. Letting the mattress fall, she lifted up the picture frame she had just taken. Hana sat down on the bed and stared down into the smiling faces of a young couple. On the right was a handsome, kind-faced man who put had his arm wrapped around the woman beside him. He had short, ruffled black hair and emerald eyes that radiated with a content for life. The woman on the left had an arm wrapped around her companion, the corner of her mouth curved into a smirk. _Like Deidara's, _Hana noticed. She had long, sandy-colored hair that gleamed in the sunlight. Her eyes were a deep, sapphire blue, like Hana's own, and held an adventurous air. Hana could see the strength in her just from her eyes alone. She slowly stroked the glass of the picture, wishing that she could have spent more time with them, that if they were still there, things wouldn't have been they were now…

There was a knock on the door. Quickly, Hana shoved the picture frame into the bag which was then hurriedly kicked under the bed.

"Hana?" came a small feminine voice from behind the door.

"Yes?" Hana called through the door. Her heart's pace quickened a bit. "What is it?"

"I…I wanted to see if you're alright," said the voice. "May I come in?"

Hana hesitated, but decided to let the person in. She opened a door and there stood Dani, a green-eyed girl with long, straight shiny black hair. She was about Hana's age, a little younger. She was new to the Tiger's Nip. Hana felt sorry her, actually. She was so innocent, so desperate for work, that she had to settle for a job in a place like the Tiger's Nip. "Dani?" Hana stepped aside to let the girl in, closing it again once she was inside.

"Hi, Hana." Dani whispered, rubbing her arm nervously. "Are you okay?" she asked. Hana saw her fingers locking, squeezing so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Hana answered. "Don't worry about me."

Dani's eyes were glistening with what Hana prayed wasn't tears. _Please don't cry… _Hana pleaded silently.

"I…" the girl's voice cracked. "I didn't do anything… I didn't do anything to try to stop it."

"Dani," Hana said. "There was nothing you could've have done. Don't blame yourself for anything." She wanted to try to comfort the girl, but she wasn't exactly sure how. She wasn't very skilled with the whole human contact and body language concept.

"Of course I should!" Dani cried. Tears now ran freely down her face. "I'm just like all of the other people in this place! I just stood there and watched! I didn't even try to stop that bastard from doing something so horrible to you!"

"Dani!" Hana hissed, taking the girl by the shoulders. "You've got to be quiet! Please! Now stop crying. I'm not worth that… You're not a bad person. Like I said, there's nothing you could have done. Chances are, the same would have happened to you if you had stepped in." Dani's eyes widened in shock. "My uncle isn't the man everyone thinks he is," Hana continued. "He's far from it. You don't even want to know what goes on behind closed doors. Trust me. I wouldn't be very surprised if he tried to hurt you too when he gets in his certain state…"

Dani's eyes still shone with excess moisture, but she fought to hold the tears back this time. Her eyes darted away from Hana's stern ones, examining the stronger-willed girl's bedroom. Something bulky and round under the bed caught her eye.

"Hana? Are you…Are you leaving?!" she shrieked. "There's a bag under the bed and I noticed that the room is a bit bare! You're leaving?! " Hana winced at the ringing in her ears. "Oh…Sorry, Hana."

Knowing it was no use lying about it, Hana decided to tell the truth. "Don't you tell _anyone_, Dani," she warned, pointing a finger at the young girl. Dani shook her head violently.

She spoke softly this time. "No, of course not!"

"Good." Hana turned around and slid her bag out from under the bed, mentally kicking herself. _Damn it…I really didn't want anyone to know…Way to go, Hana…Way to go…_

"I have a question, Hana," Dani said, her head cocked to the side as she watched Hana place a small, folded blanket in her bag. "What's making you leave now? I mean, I'm not saying I don't understand why you would, but… Is that man taking you with him? The one from last night?"

Hana froze. She was over the fact that Dani knew she was leaving. If she did happen to slip, it was no big deal. Her uncle wouldn't know where she'd gone. However, now Dani was asking about Deidara. If that slipped, her uncle would surely know where to look for her. He could get all the information he wanted in a town like this.

"Dani…" she whispered not turning around and nervously fumbling with zipper of the bag. "Why do you have to ask so much?"

"I…I'm sorry, Hana. I didn't mean to be nosy. I was just curious. Umm…So it is him?" She noticed Hana tense up and added, "You don't have to worry about me telling anyone, Hana. I might be a bit on the dumb side, but I know how to keep my mouth shut nice and tight. Trust me." She took a step forward, whispering, "You don't have to be all alone, Hana… What's going on?"

"Now you sound like some story character, Dani," Hana mumbled, shaking her head. She had to admit, Dani made sense, but… _What's wrong with being alone? _she thought._ I've gone this long without someone there for me. Besides, I'm leaving anyhow… True, Hana, _another part of her said, _but what's wrong with having some one to confide in? You really _don't_ have to be so closed…Why am I talking to myself again?_

"I'll put it this way, Dani," Hana said. "I found someone who showed me a way out of here." She stood up and, bag in hand, and walked across the room to the door. Something struck her. _My uncle would never…_

"What is it, Hana?" Dani asked, seeing the thoughtful look on Hana's face. Hana turned to look at her, her teeth tugging on her bottom lip.

"I didn't even think about how I'm going to get past my uncle…"

The two pondered on the situation. It didn't take too long for a wide, sly grin to appear on Dani's face, however.

"Don't worry, Hana," she said. Her tone had changed to a more serious one. "I've got a plan."

Hana raised an eyebrow. "A plan?"

"Oh yes. A plan… It'll be fun _and_ effective!" She gave a thumbs-up and smiled.

Hana gulped. She knew she couldn't have stayed that serious for long… Oh well. What choice did she have?

Dani pushed the laundry cart down the hallway, whistling as scanned the doors for "Unoccupied" signs. She hit a bump, making the cart bounce. A muffled yelp came from underneath a bundle of sheets in the bin.

"Shush, Hana!" Dani hissed into the laundry bin. "You'll get us caught."

Hana poked her head out from beneath a checkered quilt. "Are you sure we had to go to this extreme, Dani?" she whispered roughly. "I mean, a distraction and getaway plan would have worked."

"True, Hana," Dani replied, looking into the bundle of laundry, "But how fun would that have been?" She looked forward and smiled, ignoring the small groan that came from the cart. "Everyone needs a story to tell…"

Hana clutched her bag to her chest. She could sense how bad of an idea this was. Of course, any method of slipping past Kaimaru would have been a bad idea, but Hana had never thought that _this_ would be the one she'd be using. Then again, a part of her kind of liked this. She knew it was strange to think that her situation could be fun in any way, but she couldn't help but feel…adventurous…

"Alright, first stop," came Dani's voice. The cart halted, a door creaked open, and the sound of footsteps became fainter and fainter as Dani walked in to one of the inn rooms. Hana waited, listening to the ruffling of sheets and Dani whistling as she gathered them from the bed. The footsteps got closer and the door was shut. Hana felt a soft weight placed on top of her and a somewhat unpleasant smell crept into her nostrils. _Ewww… _Hana restrained herself and kept quiet while Dani pushed the cart down the hallway. She clutched her bag tighter tried to fight back the thought of the…remains… of other people's stay all around her. She had a quilt over herself, of course, but the thought of a guest's hanky panky sheets on top of her still made her want to gag. She swore she felt bed bugs crawling everywhere.

The trip down a single hallway felt longer than it actually was, being that this was quite an uncomfortable position for Hana to be in. One by one, each room Dani collected from brought more and more dirty sheets to be piled on top of her. _Relax, Hana. They're only sheets, _she told herself as yet another bundle was plopped right on her head.

What seemed like hours later, Hana was relieved to hear Dani announce the last stop. _Thank the Heavens…Thanks for this being the last stop and for there being a clean sheet for me to hide under. Hopefully, it's kept the smell from rubbing off on me. Blech!_ First came the familiar sounds of Dani walking into the room, all the while whistling away the same tune she had been whistling from the start of this little abscond mission. Then there was a pause…

"…Oh dear…"

Hana's stomach did a back flip. What was going on? _Please don't let it be the sheets… _She heard Dani come back to the cart. However, she felt no more weight being placed on her nor did the cart begin moving again. Instead she heard the stretching and snapping of what sounded like rubber gloves. Hana gulped, now expecting the worst. She tried not to think of why rubber gloves were needed. She heard the familiar sounds of Dani collecting the bed sheets and blankets. Hana's eyes looked like two round plates when she returned to the bin.

There was a sigh. "Forgive me, Hana."

The smell was putrid and hit Hana like a punch in the face. "UUUGH!" she cried through her hands which were desperately trying to cover her mouth and nose.

"Quiet, Hana!" Dani hissed, looking around to make sure no one had heard.

"_It stinks!_"

"**Shush!**"

Dani began pushing the cart again which contained rancid laundry and a miserable, silently gagging Hana. Neither of them wanted to even _think_ of who or what caused those sheets' destruction. Being underneath of it all, Hana was feeling utterly sick.

Finally, there was a bump and a sudden halt. The sheets above Hana were quickly pulled away and Dani ushered her out.

"Come on, Hana! Get out of there, quickly!"

Hana didn't have to be told twice and scrambled out of the bin as swiftly as possible.

"Now stay here while I check the kitchen," Dani said, ignoring Hana's grossed-out grumblings of "Such a terrible idea! Filthy, retched creatures in this world… Just plain _**sick**_!" She left Hana in the laundry room while she checked to see if the coast was clear. It wasn't long before she popped through the door again and said, "You're uncle's in the dining room, Hana!"

Hana stopped her griping and became alert once again. "Damn it," she said, biting a nail. "That's the only way to get to the exit of this place…"

"Well, I suppose this is where your distraction and getaway plan comes into play, Hana," Dani said, putting her hand on her hips and grinning.

"I'm glad you can still smile…"

"Well, I…erm… I've got a plan! Follow me!" Dani left the laundry room once more and Hana followed suit. She decided that since Dani had helped her get this far, it would be safe to say that she had a good idea.

In the kitchen, Dani pointed to the kitchen counter opposite the entrance to the kitchen. "He won't be able to see you when he comes in."

"You're going to get him to come in here?!"

"Shush! Listen to me!" Dani whispered. "As soon as that door opens, you get out through that one behind you as fast as you can. I can handle him. He's not as hard on me as he is you, Hana. Now get down."

Hana did as she was told and ducked down behind the counter. She listened to Dani opening a top cupboard and then the clinking of dished. She peeked to see the raven-haired girl lifting a large stack of dishes. She couldn't believe that this girl was going to go so far as to risk getting herself hurt by Kaimaru…just to help her, someone she barley knew.

"Thank you Dani," Hana whispered. "For everything. I don't even know what to say."

Dani looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"You don't have to say anything. And you don't have to thank me, Hana. There's no way I was going to miss out on seeing the look on Kaimaru's face when he sees he doesn't have you to push around anymore."

"But what if he starts pushing you around Dani? He'll be _furious_ with you!"

"You don't have to be worried about me, Hana. I'll be just fine." she turned away from Hana took a deep breath. "I've always wanted to do this…Bye Hana."

_**CRASH!**_

"_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"_

Hana braced herself. She had to be quick. As soon as she heard the slamming of a fist on wood, Hana bolted out of the exit door like a flash. Once out of the kitchen, she forced herself to hurry away from the shouting coming from behind her. She hastily made for the door, paying no heed to the diners eyeing her as she walked past. She noted that Deidara was nowhere to be seen, so she made her way for the door. She assumed he would eventually look outside. She couldn't bear to stay in that inn any longer. She was so close to freedom now that every step became faster than the last. A new beginning was just feet away. There was no turning back. The last thing she heard as she flung open the door was the silencing of the screaming in the kitchen, a loud thump. She forced herself to keep moving forward and stepped outside.

She was out now. The sun was bright, the sky was cloudless, and the streets were busy with the bustling of noisy merchants and townspeople. She took in a long, deep breath. _My first breath of…Wait… _She didn't even have to turn around to know he was there. She could hear his heavy breathing. She could feel burning rage radiating from his body into her own, coursing through her veins and paralyzing her.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" His voice was calm and low, but Hana knew that it was just the calm before the storm. It made her want to crawl up in a ball and pray to every god there could possibly be. Her hands began to shake; beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. Of its own accord, her body turned around to face him.

Kaimaru stood there, his muscular arms flexing with the slow movement of his fingers. His chest was steadily rising and falling. He was watching her silently, as if waiting for her to run, cry, or even beg on her knees. It seemed as though he wanted her to do something of the sort. The glare he was staring her down with made her feel like a crippled hare standing face to face with a hungry wolf. His eyes drifted downward and he caught sight of the traveling bag in his niece's hand. The gaze then went back up to her face.

"Going somewhere, Hana?"

Just the tone of his voice made her lose her breath. She knew that voice. She knew this look. She had only seen it once but she would never forget it. It was the very first time he had ever hit her. Very rarely did he ever physically punish her. He was also usually intoxicated during those instances. However, the first time was different. He was perfectly sober, just like now. He knew very well what he was doing and what he was about to do.

"Answer me…" That voice again…It made Hana's blood go cold and a shiver run down her spine. She was petrified. She was so close. She was almost far away from this devil but right when she was just out of reach of freedom, he had to find her.

The sounds that came from her throat were barely audible. "I…I…" she whimpered, but she could have just stood there with her mouth hanging open. Nothing she said could be heard anyway.

"You're going to go back inside, Hana," Kaimaru said, pointing to the building behind him, "and you're going to go up into your room and wait for me."

Hana's heart was pounding inside her chest. Every inch of her was vibrating. This was it. She could see her oncoming death in his eyes. She could see her body being beaten and thrown like a rag doll as her uncle pounded her with his fists and punished her with any object he could find, just like the first time… but this time would be different. This time, he was going to murder her with his bare hands. She knew it. If she walked up to that room, she was going to die.

_Come on, Hana! Stop being like this! Don't let him do this to you anymore. Stop letting him hurt you! All these years you've just taken it all. Not once did you ever stand up for yourself._ _**DO IT NOW, YOU COWARD!**_

"No…"

Kaimaru blinked. He tilted his head slightly, as if he didn't hear what she had said.

"What did you just say?"

"I said 'No.'," Hana answered, her voice gaining volume. "I'm not… I'm not going to let you hurt me anymore."

"You better hope to God that I forget that," her uncle growled, his hands clenching into tight fists.

"You're not going to make my life hell anymore. I'm sick of it! " Hana shot back. Her face showed defiance, she stood up straight and tall and looked her uncle right into his stunned face. "All of these years," she said," you've treated me as if I was lower than dirt. You talk about my parents as though they were trash, but you know what! I think you just wish that you could be _half_ of who they were! You're just a bitter man who takes his anger and jealousy out on the closest thing he could get to the brother that was always better. I'm not pathetic. My parents weren't pathetic. _You're_ the pathetic one, Uncle! You're so pathetic I feel _sorry_ for you!"

Kaimaru looked like he had just been slapped by a priest. However, the expression of dumbfounded shock soon left. His quickly contorted into the most frightening death glare Hana had ever seen. His arms shook, his breath was loud and heavy, and his eyes were narrowed on her like a target. The sight made Hana forget how to breathe.

In a single movement, Kaimaru stepped forward and grabbed Hana by the throat. Hana kicked out to find that she couldn't touch the ground. She was at the end of a long, powerful arm that was lifting her steadily into the air until she was eye level with the devil himself. He brought her in close, their noses nearly touching. His breathe was hot on her face, his chest was heaving and his face was red with rage.

"When I'm done with you, you little bitch," he whispered, his eyes boring through to her very soul. "You're going to wish you never learned how to speak. You'll wish you were never even born and beg me to let you join you're slut mother and bastard father in Hell." He threw her onto the hard pavement of the street. By now, there were several bystanders. Many were terrified, others merely interested. Many more just kept walking by unfazed.

Hana coughed and gasped on her hands and knees, clasping her reddened throat. She looked up at her uncle, her eyes still bold and fierce. "You're not…," she coughed. "You're not going to do anything to me…"

"_YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF I DON'T __**KILL**__ YOU, YOU FILTHY LOWLIFE! NOW GET YOUR SORRY, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING ASS INSIDE!"_

"_**NO!"**_

Kaimaru growled deep in his throat and ground his teeth. He stepped toward his insolent niece who shook on her hands and knees. He was ready to break every bone in her body. Hana squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the worst…

PANG!

Nothing was happening… She wasn't being grabbed, hit or beaten to a pulp. Hana opened a single eye. She found her uncle standing feet from her, but he had completely forgotten that she existed. As a matter of fact, it didn't look like he was aware that he existed himself. His eyes were vacant; he had a stupid expression plastered on his face as he stared out into nothing. An eye twitched. Then he fell to the ground. Face first.

Hana gaped openly at her uncle's unconscious body, completely and utterly stunned. _What __in the hell just happened? _She looked up and there stood Atsune, the chef of the inn. She was a tall, muscularly built, blonde woman. Hana knew of her and her amazing strength. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that Atsune was stronger than Kaimaru himself. It wouldn't be an overstatement at all, which was probably why the chef and inn owner never had any confrontations. Bones and spirits would definitely be broken. Hana saw an enormous skillet in her hand. _That explains what happened to him…Ouch… _

"You alright, Hana?" the chef asked.

Hana knew it was impolite to gawk, but she couldn't restrain herself. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"You mute, kid?"

"You…You hit him on the head!" Hana shook her head and stared wide-eyed at Atsune. "With a…with a _skillet!" _

Atsune cocked an eyebrow and sighed. Ignoring Hana's -in her opinion, delirious- remark, she pointed to Kaimaru and said, "That little bastard son there just tried to hurt Dani here in the kitchen a few minutes ago." She cocked her head and pointed over her shoulder. The raven-haired girl walked out from behind her. Seeing Hana on the ground, Dani rushed over to her. She extended a hand to help Hana up, but Hana just merely stared forward, still in shock. she couldn't believe she wasn't being strangled right now!

"I came out here to give him a piece of my mind," Atsune continued, pointing to Kaimaru on the ground. "Then I found him going after you. I mean it. I gave that pig a fierce blow to the head, I did, and I'd do it a thousand times if I weren't afraid to bend my skillet on his fat head!" She scowled at his limp form. "Humph!"

"What's going on? Hana!"

A lock of bright yellow hair poked out from behind Atsune's shoulder. Deidara pushed his way from behind the tall chef and searched the street in front of him. He spotted Hana on the ground and quickly strode over to her. He knelt on one knee in front of her and asked softly, "Are you alright, yeah?"

Hana nodded. "Yes. I'm fine."

Deidara frowned and shook his head, averting his eyes from her own. "I heard the yelling and went looking for you but… Damn it! I should've-"

"It's okay," Hana cut him off. "Really. I'm fine. It's not your fault…" The frown still didn't leave Deidara's face, however. He stood up, offered his hand and pulled her to her feet, examining her movements for any limps or injuries. His fists clenched when he saw the red markings on Hana's neck.

"_Son of a bitch_…" he whispered. He turned to Atsune, who was still standing there with her arms crossed. She was eyeing the blonde up and down, a single brow raised in suspicion.

"You're that yellow-haired boy from last night." She motioned to Kaimaru on the ground. "You gave him a hard time. First time I've seen Kaimaru actually give something up for free. Piece of dirt got what he deserved just now. He had no right to do what he did to her." Her stern gaze returned to Deidara and became a burning glare. She smacked her palm with her skillet. Hard. Deidara's eye widened. "And you're no worse, you scumbag," she growled. "It's your turn now."

She began to step forward, her weapon at the ready. Deidara really didn't want to fight a woman, but he knew that look in her eyes. He also saw the muscles in her arms. If she got to him, he was going to feel serious pain.

"Look now, woman! I didn't do anything to her, yeah!"

"Save it!" She was close now.

"Damn it, I'm not lying!" Deidara was taking several steps back now.

"Punk!" Atsune held up her skillet high.

"It's true Atsune! Stop it!" Hana stepped between the two, shielding Deidara from a potentially severe blow.

Atsune frowned down at her. "What are you talking about? You don't have to defend-"

"I wouldn't if he had actually done anything to me! He didn't hurt me at all. He was helping me. Please stop, Atsune."

The chef hesitated, but slowly dropped her arms. She looked past Hana and at the blonde, who was looking quite relieved. "So you didn't touch this girl?"

"No, yeah."

"Humph!" Atsune turned away from them and walked over to Kaimaru. She picked him up by the shirt and tossed him off of the sidewalk and against the wall of the building. Dani stood by the door and kept silent. She had been biting her nails when Atsune threatened to beat up Deidara with a cooking pan. Hana caught her eye. Their gazes locked for a brief moment until Dani could stand still no longer. She rushed down the path, past Atsune and Deidara and straight to Hana, who she locked into a tight embrace.

"Hana! I thought he was going to…I'm just glad you're alright! I was so scared…"

Quite frankly, Hana didn't know whether to shove her away or hug her back. She just stood there in amazement at Dani's actions. First this girl had cried because she couldn't help Hana from being given away the night before, came up with a not-so-elaborate plan to help her get past her uncle, had a furious man scream at her while allowing Hana to get away, and now she was holding Hana and crying once more, because she was…worried…

"Don't worry, Dani," she whispered, not sure of what to say. "I'm okay." She continued to look forward, her face still displaying her surprise.

Atsune approached Deidara. She had dropped her pan and was unarmed, much to his relief. He couldn't help but stare at her. She was taller than him by a few inches and she definitely had some muscle to her. Like him, her hair was blonde. However, hers was short and in a bun. For an older woman, she wasn't that bad-looking at all.

"What?" she grunted, crossing her arms.

Deidara, regaining his cool, grinned at her. "With all do respect," he replied, "you're the biggest lovely I've ever seen, yeah."

Atsune raised an eyebrow very slowly…then burst into roaring laughter. Onlookers jumped; people walking by stopped in their tracks. It was quite a sight: one young lady being hugged by another, and a blonde dressed in a red and black overcoat being slapped on the back by the laughing chef of the Tiger's Nip. Then of course there was the unconscious body of the owner of the Nip, Kaimaru. For all they knew, he was dead.

Deidara's mouth twitched in a nervous smirk and laughed softly.

"You're a character, you are," Atsune said, calming down. By now, Hana and Dani were watching. "So I take it you're laving with him?" she asked Hana.

"How did you-"

Atsune nodded to Hana's bag. _Oh yeah…_

"I hope everything goes alright for you Hana," Dani said, smiling softly. She looked down at her feet shyly. "I know we haven't spent a lot of time together but…I'm…I'm really going to miss you, Hana. I am."

The corner of Hana's mouth curved slightly in a half-smile. "You're not missing much," she said, shaking her head.

"Oh but I am, you!" Dani replied, now beaming. "You might be quiet, but I know you are simply an amazing girl. I really wish I could have known you more."

Hana looked away, hiding her surprise. This girl was full of it. Surprises, that is. She turned her head back to the raven-haired girl in front of her. "Well, the same to you, Dani. Thanks for everything."

"Oh it was nothing." Dani giggled, rubbing the back of her neck. "I do feel bad about those sheets, though. They were gross, huh?"

"You've got that right."

"Sheets, yeah?"

Hana turned to Deidara, remembering that he and Atsune were still standing there watching.

"I can tell you about that later," she answered.

Deidara nodded. "We should get going, actually, yeah."

Hana nodded back and turned to Dani and Atsune.

"You have to write me, Hana," Dani said quickly. "I'll give you an address." While she told Hana the address, Hana realized something. _I've made a friend…As a matter of fact, I have more than one now. Wow… _She smiled and noted to write down the address to make sure she'd never forget it.

"You take care of her, you," Atsune told Deidara, nudging him with her elbow.

"No problem, yeah." Deidara began walking down the path for the street, stopping after a few steps to look behind his shoulder.

Hana picked up her bag and gave her two new friends one last glance.

"Bye Hana," Dani said, her voice shaky and her eyes glistening.

"Goodbye…"

Deidara and Hana were out of town. The pavement road had disappeared and the two now walked on the dirt road of the outskirts of town. Hana hadn't said a word since she and Deidara had left. She wouldn't even respond to his comments of "Nice scenery," or "Pretty day, yeah…". He was actually starting to get a little worried. When he could no longer stand just simple nods for answers, he looked over at the young brunette.

"You alright? You're really quiet, yeah…"

Hana, brought back from her daze, took a moment to respond, for she was lost in her own mind at the time. "Oh," she said finally and faced him. "I'm sorry… I'm usually always quiet like this."

"Well, I'm going to have to change that, yeah," said Deidara, flashing Hana a smirk, then a wink. She turned away and hid her face, but Deidara could tell she was blushing. He chuckled to himself.

Town was way behind them as they continued walking down the dirt road. Walls surrounded the two, blocking Hana's view of the countryside beyond them. In all her life, Hana had never been outside of the town's limits. To finally be so close to the gates made her realize how sheltered she'd been.

"I'm amazed he made it before us, yeah…" Deidara mumbled. Hana looked at him, puzzled.

"He?" she asked.

"My partner, yeah."

Hana looked ahead. She couldn't see much of anything other than the tall, black gate, exit to the town. As they got closer, however, she began to make out a figure standing with his hands on his hips. Ever closer, she saw that he was wearing the same attire as Deidara. Spiky, black hair poked out from behind a bright orange mask. It looked like an orange whirlpool, the spirals rotating around a single right eyehole. The man raised an arm high and began waving wildly.

"Hey! Deidara-senpai!"


	6. Off to an Interesting Start

**_I'm very sorry. I haven't had much access to a computer, so it's been really hard to update. Please forgive me for the long wait. I really am trying hard to get this done. When school starts, I'll be able to use their computers whenever I can, but for now I have to make due with what I can get. This chapter may be a bit uneventful, but it's all I could get done today. Thanks for still reading!_**

**-chelcee-**

"This is your partner?" Hana asked, leaning toward the blond but keeping her eyes on the orange-masked man in front of her.

"Yeah," Deidara mumbled. "Tobi..."

"You're too slow Deidara-senpai," Tobi said, pointing to his partner. "I've been waiting here for such a long time. Sheesh! I should've started walking." He laughed, ignoring Deidara's glare and turning to look at Hana. "So this is the girl you were talking about." He waved. "Hi! I'm Tobi. What's your name, cutie?"

This made her turn slightly pink. "Hana..."

"Well nice to meet you, Hana-chan!" Tobi said. He got no reply, only an astounded look. He tilted his head and asked Deidara, "Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"It's perfectly fine, Tobi. Let's go, yeah..." Without saying another word, Deidara walked past Tobi and out of the gate. Tobi walked beside Hana as she followed. He found her shy silence amusing.

"So, Hana-chan, what makes you want to travel with two strangers? You like the dangerous type?" he asked, nugding her rbs with his elbow.

This caught Hana off-guard. "Um...Well..." _Should I tell him the whole story?_

Deidara looked over his shoulder at his partner, annoyed. "Leave her alone, Tobi, yeah. I already told you why she's here."

"I'm just curious, senpai," Tobi tossed back. He clamped his hands together and said in a sweet little voice, "I want to make sure you didn't make her sweet little promises of jewels and happiness if she came along for the ride." He laughed again and turned back to Hana. "Well did he?"

"Tobi!"

"Um, no," Hana said, hoping it would satisfy Tobi's curiosity. "I'm just going to the village on the way to...wherever it is you're going."

"Ah! So Deidara didn't sway you with his wits and charm, eh?"

"Uh...I don't think so?"

"Tobi," Deidara growled. "We just left town and already you're being annoying. If you're going to talk her head off, do it in moderation. Don't come crying to me when she's ready to kill you, yeah."

"You need to take a chill-pill, senpai..."

One comment led to another, and eventually the two partners began bickering while they walked. Hana wasn't quite sure what to do, so she just looked around at the countryside around her. They were quite a way from the town by now. Only now did she realize that she hadn't looked back once since they left. She couldn't look back even if she wanted to. In fact, that place was becoming just a mere memory to her. Now, instead of paved streets and buildings there was a dirt road and open pasture scattered with small trees and brightly-colored flowers. Mountains rose up in the distance, standing tall with the clouds. Everything outside if the city walls was absolutely gorgeous. Hana had never seen anything like it. _Wow...these guys are so lucky to be able to see this everyday. It's sad I've never been outside of the town before. Well...I'm free now, away from that psycho of an uncle back there..._

"HANA!"

"Huh?! What?!" Hana jumped and turned to see Tobi looking in her direction, arms crossed in front his chest.

"I thought you'd gone brain-dead, Hana-chan!" Tobi said throwing his arms up into the air. "You scared me."

"Oh. Sorry...I guess I spaced out..."

"Well I'd say!"

Hana found the rest of the day to be quite...interesting. Tobi would have his random outbursts of conversation to sate his boredom of silence. Deidara tried his hardest to not strangle him throughout the day, often being seen clutching his fists and biting his lips . Hana tried not to talk a whole lot, yet satisfied Tobi with a few words now and then. All in all, the day was uneventful. When nightfall came, Deidara stopped and decided to make camp. Tobi plopped down on the grass and stretched. With a yawn, he asked Deidara what he was making for dinner.

"Make your own dinner, yeah! You got food from town before we left. Do I look like your maid?"

"No disrespect, senpai," Tobi answered, "but you've got the feminine looks for one."

Deidara turned red in the face, his hands balling into fists. He took a step toward Tobi. "Why you little..."

"I'll make something, okay?" Hana interrupted, trying to prevent another argument which, by the look on Deidara's face, could result in violence. Deidara looked at Hana, his face softening slightly. Hana looked in the eye, pleading that he calm down. "Please. I'll even make dinner for both of you, alright? It's the least I can do when you were nice enough to let me come along. Sit down and relax. I'll take care of everything."

Deidara held his gaze. She chose an interesting time to butt in. He decided not to press the matter and sat down. "Thanks, yeah..."

"No problem," Hana answered. She knelt down and opened her bag, taking out some of the food she had packed for the trip. She was relieved Deidara had calmed down enough to let Tobi's comment go. She was even more amazed at herself for getting in the middle of it like that, especially since it involved a man like Deidara, a shinobi. She couldn't say she never had bad experiences with trying to break up fights in the past, after all. Shaking it off, she proceeded to make food for the two. She made her own after they were served.

"Thanks for dinner, Hana-chan," Tobi said after he had finished his meal. He gave out a small burp and lay back on the grass, turning his back to the other two. It wasn't long before the others heard his soft snores.

Hana giggled, earning a questioning look from Deidara. "Oh, it's nothing," she said, going back to eating her food. She smiled at Tobi, whose curled-up form reminded her of a small kitten. Hana sighed, finishing off her meal. When Deidara finished, she cleaned up the remains of the night's dinner.

"You really didn't have to do that, yeah." Deidara said when she was finished. He had watched her the entire time, but Hana tried not to notice.

"It was nothing, really. I don't mind." Hana sat back with her bag as a cushion. She yawned quietly and stared into the small fire in front of her. She was so zoned out she didn't notice Deidara getting up and walking her way. Nor did she realize that he had sat down next to her. Therefore, she jumped when he tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"You're too quiet, yeah." Deidara said, his familiar smirk pointing her direction.

"I thought you liked quiet."

Deidara snorted. "I'm not a mortician, yeah. I like conversation. However, I dislike pointless and stupid conversation, like Tobi's. I know you have intelligent thoughts in there." He poked her forehead softly. "It'd be nice if I could hear them, yeah."

"I don't really have much to say," Hana said quietly and turned her head towards the fire. Deidara put his hand under her chin and turned her face back to his. He smiled.

"I told you I was going to change that, didn't I?"

Hana didn't know what to say. _What does he mean by that? Why is he...touching me?_ _What- _Her thoughts came to a halt when Deidara's hand left and sunk into his cloak. He was reaching for something... When it came back into view, it was balled into a fist, palm up. Hana watched as his hand moved, then open up finally to reveal a small bird. It amazed her how such little hand movement could create something like that. _I guess those hands really are handy._

"It's beautiful," she said, smiling at the bird in Deidara's hand. "You're really talented, Deidara."

"Thanks, yeah." Deidara smiled himself, glad that someone appreciated his art. "I'm glad you like it. This isn't even my art in it's true form. Real art...it's transient, fleeting. It's a beautiful creation with an even more beautiful ending. That's what real art is, Hana."

Hana admired his passion and his love for his work. She had never heard anyone talk like that before. It was nice to see someone showing affection toward...anything, really. She felt Deidara take her hand and place the bird in her palm.

"Have it," he said.

"What? R-really?" Hana was astonished. "I mean, you made it. It's amazing. I couldn't..."

"Take it, yeah. There's plenty more where that came from, yeah."

Hana looked down at her first real gift... She felt an unfamiliar warmth. She liked it. "Thank you..."

"No problem, yeah." Deidara stood up and walked to his side of the fire. "We should get some sleep. Leave that out tonight. It'll be dry by morning, yeah."

Hana nodded and placed the bird by her bag. She poured water over the fire and lay down facing the red coals that remained. "Good night, Deidara."

"Night, yeah."

"Wake up, Hana-chan!"

Hana was pulled from a dream of giant, flying birds wearing bright orange masks. She opened her eyes and found herself face-to-face with an..._orange? No. Just Tobi... _She sat up and rubbed her eyes to clear her vision. Yep. It was Tobi.

"Morning, Hana-chan!"

"Morning, Tobi...Sleep well?"

"Yup!" Tobi said. "Thanks to your cooking." He patted his stomach and gave her a thumbs-up.

Hana gave him a smiled and stretched. She yawned as she took in the beautiful morning around her. She slept rather well, considering she had just spent the night in the middle of a field. The sky was a pure cerulean blue, birds flew above her and sang and small clouds dotted the sky. It was going to be a good day.

Hana's prediction turned out to be correct. At least for the first half of the day. The morning went rather smoothly, then around afternoon time, they had covered a lot of ground and Tobi was fully awake and chatty. He was actually chattier than the day before. This caused Deidara to wake up all the way as well, except he wasn't as cheery as his partner. He had been rather cranky since he woke up that morning. After a certain comment of Tobi's directed at Deidara, Deidara snapped.

"Can it Tobi, yeah! I'm not in the mood."

"Lighten up, Deidara-senpai," Tobi shot back, crossing his arms.

"_No, you **shut** up, yeah!_" By now the blond was shouting._ "_You talk too much about too many pointless things. How many times have I told you to just keep quiet like any normal person, yeah? But do you listen to me? **_NO!_**" Deidara ended his rant and looked over at Tobi, his face growing redder when the masked man looked completely unfazed. Hana looked over at him and saw that his frown had become a snarl and his eyes seemed ready to shoot fire. It was quite comparable to her uncle's signature glare. It made her uneasy.

Tobi looked as if he had just snapped out of a daydream and turned to his partner. "Did you say something, senpai?"

"**_TOBI, YOU DUMBASS, YEAH!!_**"

Deidara's hands went to his hips and zipped open two packs under his cloak. the next thing Hana knew, he was tossing bird after bird at Tobi, who then began running like a madman. That wasn't the surprising part, though.

**_BANG!_**

"Hey! Calm down Deidara-senpai! That one almost hit me! AAAH! Run, Hana-chan! _**RUN!**_"

**_BANG! BANG! BANG!_**

Deidara's clay birds were exploding everywhere, chasing Tobi all around the pasture. One blew up close by to Hana, pelting her with clumps of rock and dirt. She screamed at the loud bang and leapt to the ground, shielding her head with her bag. She was expecting to be blown apart at any minute. She lay there praying to God to keep those bombs away from her. After many more screams, bangs and smoke, the chaos finally ceased. Deidara stood shaking with the last bit of his tantrum. Tobi was nowhere to be seen in the smoke; Hana still lay quivering on the ground. All was quiet, save for the pounding in everyone's ears.

The smoke cleared and with a grunt, Deidara folded his arms over his chest and scanned the area around him. He smirked proudly at what he had created. There were craters scattered across the field in every direction, each a different size and shape, each possessing it's own image. It really lightened up his mood. Tobi was gone, all was quiet, and Hana...Hana was lying on the ground face first, shaking like a leaf. He probably should have elaborated on the "true form" of his art. He hadn't planned for to find out like this but...Oh well. He started her way and saw she was starting to barely peek out from beneath the bag over her head.

_Oh crap...He's coming over here! Okay, just calm down, Hana. He's not going to blow you up. Wait...Where's Tobi?! _

"Sorry about that, yeah."

Hana saw Deidara's outstretched hand and simply stared at it, worried that maybe it would blow her up too.

"Just take it, yeah. You should know I wouldn't hurt you by now." Deidara saw the worried expression on Hana's face and knew why she was so scared. "Don't worry. Tobi's not dead. He's-" He was cut off by Tobi's cry in the distance. "See?" Hana hesitated, but reached out and took Deidara's hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

"I guess I forgot to tell you the rest about my art, yeah." Deidara said as Hana brushed herself off. "It's like I said, fleeting. It's beauty that disappears in one explosive moment. Art...is a bang..."

Hana observed the area. Deidara was definitely not someone to cross, she realized. Everywhere around them was covered in craters. This was his art? She'd never seen anything like it before, she had to admit. However, she could get where Deidara was coming from. It wasn't the mauled earth, it was the explosions of his sculptures that caused it. W_ow...There's a bit more than paint on paper here. It's actually kind of...cool._

"Hey!" came Tobi's voice from behind them. Deidara and Hana turned to see the masked man with his arms crossed. "You could have killed me, Deidara-senpai!"

"What a shame I didn't..." Deidara mumbled. "Let's keep going. We've wasted enough time, yeah."

The rest of the day was silent, Tobi not wanting to upset Deidara again and Hana still somewhat shaken up by the matter. Deidara was actually the one making small talk from then on rather than Tobi. Nightfall came sooner that day. The scenery began to change as well. As they stopped to make camp, Hana observed what lie ahead: trees. Lots of them gathered in a valley ahead.

"Are we going in there?" Hana asked, pointing toward the forest.

"We'll be there by early tomorrow, yeah."

"Why?" Tobi asked, unrolling a blanket Hana had let him borrow. "You afraid of the woods, Hana-chan?" He laughed.

Hana gulped and shook her head. "It's not that. I was just curious. But don't things _happen_ in the forest? Don't people get eaten by wild animals and fall in quick sand," the more she spoke, the faster her words came out, "and get chased by little tribes and-

"No! Of course not, yeah!" Deidara said, putting his hands on his hips. "Where did you hear all these absurd things?"

Hana felt her face get hot. She knew it was all ridiculous, but... "People that passed through the town would tell stories..."

"And you _believed_ them?" Tobi cried. "Come on, Hana-chan! Don't be so gullible!" He laughed and leaned in close, lowering his voice. "Everyone knows none of that's true. It's the _Haunted Nin_ and the _psychopathic cannibals_ you have to worry about."

This left Hana frozen, and Tobi took the opportunity to mess with her even more. While she stood there with wide eyes staring at the forest ahead, he crept behind her.

"Tobi..." Deidara warned, but Tobi paid no mind.

"If the Haunted Nin don't find you in the night and take you to their lair to torture you..."

"Tobi, enough."

"Then the cannibal psychos will skin you for a coat before making you into a meal." He leaned in closer, now whispering into Hana's ear and raising his gloved hands up like talons. "Everyone knows that...So at night in the forest, try not to sleep, Hana-chan. Because if you do..."

"Tobi!"

"THEY'RE GONNA COME AND **_GETCHA!_**" Hana screamed bloody murder as Tobi lifted her up by the waist roaring like a madman. She flailed and kicked and yelled like a crazy person.

"Tobi, you ass!" Deidara yelled. He rushed over and shoved Tobi away and took Hana by the shoulders. He glared down at his partner howling with laughter on the ground, clutching at his ribs and rolling from side to side.

"Hana-chan! HAHAHA! You're-HAHA! YOU'RE FACE! It was priceless! WOOOHOOHAAAHAHAAAA!"

"Idiot, yeah." Deidara looked down and saw Hana burying her face in her hand, the other arm wrapped around herself. "Hey," he said. "Look at me." He ended up having to lift her face himself. Hana's face was beet red with embarrassment.

"I'm such an idiot..." she whispered, refusing to look him in the face.

"Don't say that, yeah. You're not. Tobi's just...I don't know what's wrong with that guy. He's...disturbed, yeah." He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Look at me. Don't say that about yourself, yeah. And you don't worry about what Tobi said. You know it's nonsense. Besides..." he made her look him in the eye. "You know if anything tries to hurt you, I'll blow it to pieces, yeah." He gave her his signature smirk.

Hana's face started losing it's red tint. She began to feel a lot better. In fact, she wanted to start laughing herself, but she couldn't while Deidara was looking at her like that. She was beginning to really like that smirk, even if it did make her uneasy.

**_Yes! Chapter 6! I'm actually caught up with what I've been writing in my notebook...Well, you see that's kind of a troublesome situation...You see, I have the basic storyline from beginning to end in my head. I use my notebook to write in the details and type the final chapters on here. Well...now that I'm caught up with the notebook means I'm...kind of in a creative rut. I don't know what to write! I would actually appreciate some help. Any ideas would be great. Thanks for reading!_**


	7. And An Even More Interesting Middle

**Finally! After all this time I've finally added another chapter. I'm sorry to the people who wanted me to update for so long. Life happens, and now college is happening. But when I'm not staying up till 3 studying, I have nothing to do, so I'll try to keep updating, I promise! Thank you everyone who has read this. Your comments and feedback made writing this worthwhile. So if you do read this and like it, kick my ass until I update. Hope you enjoy. (By the way, I've gone through and revised chapters 1-3. As of yet chapters 4-6 have not been revised. I wanted to go ahead and write a new chapter.)**

**Warning: This chapter's a bit more graphic than the others. **

**Chapter 7**

"You aren't still afraid are you, yeah?"

"Huh? Oh…um…no. I'm not." Hana replied. She was lying though. Every time she closed her eyes, little men covered in blood wielding spears ran through her head. It was all just a story made up by Tobi to scare her, but it was working. She was afraid to sleep and even more afraid to go into the forest.

"Tobi's a dumbass, yeah. He makes everything into a joke, so don't pay attention to him." Deidara was sitting next to her, molding together a little clay rabbit, the style much different than the ones he made to explode. It was more lifelike. He was using his fingers, not the mouths on his hands, so Hana could actually see how he was doing it. He was very talented with his hands, she noticed, the way he took care in every little detail. As she continued to watch in silence her mind drifted towards the next part of the journey. As much she didn't want to be afraid, she couldn't help herself. It wasn't just the forest and its spear-chucking pigmies and quicksand. It was everything from there and beyond. She didn't know what was out there. She'd heard plenty of stories in her nineteen years but nothing could prepare her for the thing humans find most terrifying: the unknown, not knowing what to expect or what will happen.

Then she looked at Deidara again. This was the man who, out of a hundred other men, stepped up to save her from becoming a piece of property. When she thought about it, he didn't seem the type who would randomly decide to save a damsel in distress. In fact, the thought seemed too cliché for a guy like him. But there was something else she sensed in him, not quite a softer side, but more like a hidden… something. That part she didn't know. She also noticed that while his face was young, his eyes were intense. Even when he wasn't concentrating on his art, his eyes held a certain quality she hadn't seen before. While they held the hardness of a man who'd experienced death, violence and hardship, his eyes also seemed to mock all danger and reason. They laughed in the face of authority and anything that threatened their owner's free existence. They were fearless. For some reason, the more she looked at them, the more the fear left her. Once again, this blonde-haired and blue-eyed man was making her feel safe. Around every turn, the strength of this man was engulfing her in this sense of security that she hadn't felt in… _well, never…_

"There something on my face?" Deidara turned his head to look at Hana. She was embarrassed; she didn't think he noticed her looking at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare," she said and turned her gaze away from him. She couldn't look into his eyes anyway. As pretty as they were, they were way too intense for her to bear meeting with her own.

Deidara looked at Hana in wonder as she stared into the campfire in front of her. Never in his life had he ever met a girl so… He didn't know exactly how to put it. Sheltered, perhaps was the word, but there was something else about her, something that intrigued him more than any piece of art could. He couldn't put his finger on it but he was dead set on figuring it out.

It wasn't as bad as Hana had imagined. So far there were no sand pits, pigmy tribes or wild beasts attacking them yet, so all was well for the time being as and Hana, Deidara and Tobi made their way through the forest. _It's actually kind of pretty in here, _she thought. _It's so green and… even more green._ She giggled out loud, catching the attention of her two companions. She looked up at the forest canopy, ignoring them. Up there was a whole other sight in its own. She saw squirrels jumping from tree to tree, patches of sunlight peeking through the treetops, and she heard birds singing all around her. Quite the contrary to her previous worries, Hana was starting to love this place. It was beautiful. _How could this place possibly be sc-"AAAAAAAH!" _Suddenly staring her in the face was a big, hairy spider. Hana fell back onto her butt and screamed, her bag flying over in Deidara's direction.

"Tobi, you asshole!" The spider was knocked out of Tobi's hand and flew into a nearby bush. From a distance, it was far smaller than it first appeared. It was still bigger than any spider Hana had seen before, however.

"I'm just playing with her, senpai!" Tobi said, still laughing. "She's been so quiet all day."

"You're still an asshole, yeah."

Hana stood up and brushed herself off. She was over the fright of the spider by now. She was used to spiders from living in an attic all her life.

"Now this should teach you a lesson, Hana-chan," Tobi said, pointing a playful finger at the sandy brunette. "Talk! Scream! Use your vocal cords!"

"Lesson learned, Tobi-san," Hana said, giving Tobi a little bow. All the while she was smiling. "Shall we move on?"

Deidara didn't hide his confusion. Was she just… playing around? It wasn't that Hana was a boring girl. She was just shy, that was all. He liked it, the playfulness that was. _She has a nice smile, even if it is still timid._ Shrugging the thought off, he reached down to pick up the bag that landed in front of him. _Damn!_ It was much heavier than he'd expected. He felt the weight and then looked over at Hana. She wasn't malnourished or sickly; she had some meat to her, but it didn't seem like she'd be able to lift something so heavy. _That's kind of hot… _He smacked himself mentally.

"I'm sorry, Deidara," Hana said, lifting her bag with ease, "I didn't hit you, did I?"

He didn't really hear the question. He was still staring at her.

"Is… everything okay?"

"Yeah. Let's keep moving, yeah."

They moved on. Hana gave in and engaged in conversation with Tobi. She didn't say much, but Deidara and Tobi both noted that it was more than she had spoken in the past few days. It was a healthy change. Even Deidara joined in eventually. He and his partner went all day without a single argument. Hana was enjoying this. She couldn't remember the last time she'd enjoyed talking to people, even if it was about little things like the weather, things she should know about the forest (legitimate things), or even just listening to whatever they had to say, mainly Tobi.

"That sounds a little paranoid, honestly," Tobi had just told Hana he wore a mask to protect himself from identity theft.

"It's hard not to be paranoid when everybody's out to get you, Hana-chan!" Tobi said. He started looking over his shoulders then jumped into a bush to hide.

Then Hana laughed. It caught Deidara by surprise. It was a sweet, genuine laugh from a girl who probably hadn't laughed in years. He saw that smile again, and that look in her eyes. It was a look that made him forget that she'd ever been hurt before, or even that he had been. It was a pure light that he thought didn't even exist anymore. From that moment, he was determined to make that sparkle stay for good.

_Grrrrrllllllllll…_

Hana held her stomach, embarrassed. She didn't realize she had gotten so hungry. "Sorry…"

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry too, senpai," Tobi said, climb out of the bush. He patted his stomach and asked what was for lunch.

Deidara looked up, turned away from Hana and Tobi and approached a tree. With a single leap, he disappeared into the thick leaves.

"Senpai! Where'd you go?"

As if answering his question, a large red apple flew out of the tree and at Tobi, hitting him in the head. Tobi caught it as it rolled off and then the next one that Deidara tossed. The blonde then landed on his feet in front of Hana, already munching on his own apple and extending two more Hana's way. She thanked him and took them, too hungry to be too shy to bite into it. They walked as they ate, Tobi with his mask to the side facing the other two, making it difficult to see his face without making it obvious that they were trying.

Hana was a lot fonder of the forest when the sun was out. Night was a whole different story. Now the tree limbs looked like lanky fingers reaching out for her, and every noise she heard made her uneasy. She was trying to hide it though. No need to give Tobi any ammunition. Even though the sun had been down for some time, they kept moving on. Tobi and Deidara were used to days without sleep, so it's understandable why they would forget that Hana wasn't. A few hours into the night, Deidara noticed Hana moving slower and subtly yawning every now and then.

"Let's stop for the night, yeah."

Hana had no objection. She dropped her bag almost immediately. _At least I won't have trouble sleeping tonight._ Her muscles were near the brink of refusing to function. Deidara had good timing. While she got out something for dinner, Deidara and Tobi got some wood for a fire. By the time she was done, so were they, so she didn't notice that she was alone for a few minutes.

After dinner, Tobi soon fell asleep. Deidara and Hana were still awake, staring into the fire in silence. That was until Deidara couldn't take it anymore.

"Should I get a spider too, yeah?" he joked, finally getting Hana to snap out of her trance.

"No. Please don't," she said, giving a weak smile.

"Just trying to get something out of you, yeah," Deidara said. It was going to be a while before he would be able to sleep and from the looks of it, same for Hana. Although Deidara didn't want to spend the rest of the night in silence, he couldn't come up with anything else to talk about beside what he'd been curious about since he'd met Hana.

"So what happened to your parents?"

Hana was a little surprised he'd asked, but the subject didn't tear her apart to talk about, so she answered him.

"They died when I was little," she said. "I don't know how they really died. All I know is what my uncle told me, and I don't believe him."

"Why would they trust someone like him to take care of you, yeah?"

"He told me that my father was a drunk and my mother was a whore. He said they had me accidently and didn't want me, so they gave me to him. I know that's not true. I remember my parents. Well, I have one memory of them. It was my fourth birthday. My father was holding me on his shoulders and my mother was putting her necklace on me. They were smiling, telling me that they loved me and that the necklace will be a piece of them to hold on to when they weren't around…"

As Deidara listened, he noticed that Hana was telling this story with the calmest expression, as if she were reading it from a book.

"Then a man came to the door. I don't remember what he said, but it was urgent. My father put me down and my parents held me one last time before they left… The next thing I remember is being taken to my uncle's house. I know they're dead because they would have come back for me. I wouldn't have been sent to live with someone else if they weren't alive. They loved me too much…"

_That bastard made her numb on the inside... _

"I'm sorry if I spoke too much, Deidara." Hana's gaze was focused on the smoldering embers in front of her. "We need more firewood," she observed. She stood up and headed for the trees. Deidara stood up and followed her. Obviously she was done talking. Plus the fire did need more wood.

Looking up from the ground, Hana saw a glistening through the trees. She made her way through and stopped abruptly. In front of her was a lake, illuminated by the moon. Hana looked up and saw that it was full, the stars around it dotting the sky. Hana had never seen anything like it in her whole life, or at least not that she could remember. The lights of the city prevented her from seeing the stars like she was seeing them now. She thought they were beautiful before. Now her breath was taken away.

"I've never seen something so perfect," she whispered when Deidara stood beside her. He looked at the scene in front of them. At first he didn't understand what she saw that was so special, but then he realized. She'd never been able to take something like this for granted. Taking another look, he saw what she did. The lake looked like a sea of blue diamonds, the surrounding trees glowing silver from the moonlight. He turned his head to see Hana still in amazement. The starry sky reflected in her eyes, and he found himself admiring them more than he did the stars themselves. He turned his gaze away when Hana felt him staring and looked at him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hana grimace after running her fingers through her hair.

_I need a bath, _she thought. It'd been quite a while since she'd last bathed and she felt disgusting as a result. At this point, she wasn't too wary to try her luck with lake water. However, there was the fact that she had company, and she wasn't too keen on being alone either.

Deidara knew what she was thinking; she was a woman after all. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't feeling all too fresh either…

"I won't look if you really want to, yeah."

Hana blushed. "Umm… I'll be okay," she said shyly. "It… It's dark and I don't know what's in there."

"It'll be fine. You'd probably feel more concealed at night then in the daylight anyway, yeah." When she still didn't agree, he added "I need to too, so we'll stand back-to-back and I promise you'll have nothing to worry about, yeah." Then he extended his arm and held out his pinky. Hana just looked at it, confused.

"It's a way of making a promise. You can't break them, yeah… Lock yours with mine."

Hesitating at first, Hana set down the stack of wood she'd collected and extended her own pinky and wrapped it around Deidara's. _Either this is something they do where he comes from or I'm that sheltered. I honestly think it's the second one…_

"You swear?"

"I swear."

"Okay… I'll be right back." Hana headed back toward the campfire, picking up the stack of firewood on her way. It wasn't a long distance away; Deidara could see her placing branches onto the fire from where he stood. When she returned, she brought with her the two towels she had packed and a bar of soap. She broke that in half and handed one half and a towel to Deidara. She then turned without a word and started down the edge of the lake.

Like he promised, Deidara turned away from her. By nature, he wasn't a very shy person to begin with. On top of that, he wanted a bath, so there were no foul intentions here. His mind shifted to the promise he made as he undid his yellow hair. _You're an idiot, yeah… _As strong as he was physically, he was still a man, a man who happened to be interested in a certain girl who was about to undress just yards from him. Knowing how shy of a girl she was, it shocked him that she actually would. _The exhaustion probably went to her head… Okay. Keep your eyes to yourself, Deidara. She's had bad experiences with men as it is, yeah. Just keep it together and clean yourself up._ Setting his cloak on the ground, he noticed that Hana had moved quite a distance away from him.

Hana kept sneaking peeks over in Deidara's direction to make sure he wasn't looking. The distance she'd put between them made it difficult to see so far away, so that eased her anxiety a bit. Plus, she'd chosen a spot behind a rock that extended over the edge of the lake, blocking her from view. She set her spare clothes on the rock and with her back to the rock and Deidara, she began to undress. She tested the water with her foot to find that it wasn't as cold as she thought it would be. Wading in the water, she washed herself up and used the opportunity to shave as well with the razor she brought along. She needed to get into deeper water to wash her hair. The problem was that the rock didn't extend that far out. She peeked around the edge of the rock to check if the coast was clear for her to move out. What she saw made her linger. Deidara was already to washing his hair, but it wasn't his head she was looking at. Even from where she was standing, she could see the water glistening off of his muscular back and arms. _Hey, I didn't have to make any promises… HANA, you PERV! _She jerked her head away from the sight and decided it was fine for her to come out. She tried to wash her hair quickly so she could rinse and get dressed again.

Deidara was trying very hard to resist temptation. Although Hana would have a hard time seeing him from this far, little did she know that the same wasn't true for him. He had a nicely trained eye that would be able to see her very easily. But he refused to betray her trust like that. _Since when did I become Mr. White Knight? Hmph… _He wrung his hair out and headed back for shore. Once he was dried off and dressed, so was Hana. _She was probably waiting on me._ He walked over to her to return what she'd let him borrow.

"You can keep that," she said, indicating the soap. It took him a second to register why, but he eventually knew it was because it had attended to his… unmentionables. Despite the awkwardness of the ordeal, they both felt ten times better afterward. They made their way back to the fire and fed it some more wood.

"I'm sorry for just getting up earlier," she said once they were seated. "I just… I've never really talked about that before. No one's ever asked… I'm sorry if I was rude."

"It's fine," Deidara replied. "I'm not known for being very unpretentious, yeah." Maybe he shouldn't have asked about a sensitive subject like that, but he couldn't tame his curiosity sometimes.

"If you don't mind me asking, Deidara," Hana said, "what about you? Not necessarily your parents, but where you're from."

Deidara shifted slightly. "I'm from the Earth Country and my job requires me to travel a lot. I'm not very fond of the job but sometimes we don't have a choice."

"You get to move around and see a lot of things. You have a lot of freedom, I think."

Deidara frowned. "You're more free than I could ever be, Hana," he whispered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, yeah."

Slightly confused, but not one to push things, Hana didn't inquire. Deidara felt her shiver next to him. He looked over and saw her rubbing her hands together. He picked up his cloak from behind him, scooted closer to her and wrapped it around her. Hana looked a little surprised, but she accepted. It was a thin cloak, but it kept him warm when he needed it to. She thanked him and held the cloak closer to her. It smelt of him. The scent was subtle, but enough to make her keep taking it in. It was masculine, musty. She liked it. _This is so weird… Before, he couldn't come near me without making me feel nervous. Now I just bathed in the same lake as him and wearing his cloak and… Am I… snuggling up to him? No. I'm just cold. Just…warm. And cozy. And loving the way this man smells. And looks, and talks… STOP IT._

Deidara was watching her. She was swimming in that cloak of his. It was cute, for lack of a better word. Damn it. Why was he thinking this way? He was Deidara! He was an Akatsuki member, a ninja! Why would he save a girl and bring him along on a _mission? _She was being dropped off on the way, granted, but that wasn't the point. He was a hardened, cool-tempered ninja, for crying out loud. Well, she was already there, nothing he could do about it now. He wouldn't get attached to this girl. He couldn't. It'd just be harder for her in the long run when it was time for her to leave.

A soft weight interrupted his thoughts. Hana had fallen asleep on his shoulder. _Damn it, she's making this hard._ He sighed. She was making it really hard. He softly set her down on a pillow of the clothes she'd changed out of. He left his cloak on her. He'd put it back on in the morning.

When Hana woke up, Tobi and Deidara had already cleaned up the remains of the campfire. She stood up and said good morning to Tobi.

"Morning, Hana-chan. How'd you sleep?"

"I slept well… Good morning Deidara."

"Hm," Deidara grunted in minute acknowledgement. He didn't look at her either. Hana, slightly hurt, figured he was just cranky from waking up. However, for the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon, Deidara still didn't talk to her or even look at her. Did she do something wrong? She didn't ask. She decided to just leave him alone. Tobi also happened to notice that Deidara had been behaving a bit cold that day.

"Why so solemn, senpai?" he asked. "Cheer up! We're not dead, right? No haunted nin!" Deidara didn't respond, even when Tobi upped the ante with more silly comments to try to gain a response.

By the time mid day came around, Hana had also become solemn. She couldn't figure out what she could have said or done to upset Deidara like this. She didn't understand. The night before, everything was fine between them. She didn't want him to be enthusiastic or talk her ears off; she just wanted some… contact… At one point, they were standing side by side as they walked.

"Deidara?"

He continued to look ahead, but grunted in reply.

"Whatever I did… I'm sorry…"

Deidara let out a heavy breath. "Look…"

"SENPAI!"

It happened too fast for Hana to realize what was happening. The next thing she knew, there was a loud clang of metal against metal and Deidara stood holding a kunai, his back to Hana and looking into the trees. After a moment of scanning the treetops, his hands went to the packs at his hips. Remembering what happened last time he did that, Hana hit the deck and covered her ears. Two birds flew from Deidara's hands and obliterated a portion of the surrounding trees. The crackling of collapsing trees and the thud of them hitting the ground made Hana think of breaking bones. _What's happening! _

The smoke finally subsided, and there stood in front of them a very familiar face. Hana looked up, saw him and her heart sank deep into her stomach. It was the man from the Tiger's Nip, the rich man who had harassed her then auctioned to buy her. He met her gaze, and a sleazy grin spread across his face.

"I finally found you," he said, clasping his hands together behind his back. "It's nice to see my girl in one piece."

"You're that rich pussy from the bar, yeah" Deidara sneered, his hands hovering over his pockets. "How many did you bring?"

The man chuckled. "Such tough words coming from a little punk. You see, I'm very familiar with those in your particular career field. The benefits of having a lot of money means I can afford to have someone else-or rather more than a dozen-retrieve my lost goods for me.

"This girl isn't yours, mister," Tobi said, his voice a far more serious tone than it normally was. "From what I heard, Hana-chan thought you were a creeper and you were too scared of Deidara-san to get her yourself. Looks like you can't afford a pair, Creeper-san."

"I don't know who the hell you are, you weirdo, but this doesn't involve you. As a matter of fact, it'd be wise for the both of you to just stand aside and let the girl come with me."

Hana stood up and backed away a few steps. _How the hell… How the hell did he know? How did he find us? Did my uncle… Did he send him? Dear god, please… _

"Just go home, yeah. Go home and you won't have to die today." Deidara's deathly tone made the man uneasy, but he didn't back down.

"You're outnumbered," he said. "Besides, think about it. Is she really worth all of this? It's just a girl, a girl who I'd really like to take to a nice home." He looked at her again with those wolfish eyes. She looked away, disgusted and scared. _He's right. I'm not worth it… If I just go with him Tobi and Deidara won't be hurt. I'm not worth them getting hurt or killed over._

"She's staying with us, Creeper-san…"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" The rich man made a hand gesture and in the blink of an eye, they were surrounded by masked men wielding swords. Each of them wore the same kind of headband Deidara wore. Hana knew what they were. _Ninja! _

"Now just give her up," he said. "These men are very deadly and much older and experienced than you two. Be rational. What's more important, your lives or this?"

"She has a name, you piece of shit!" Deidara barked. "Get your ass out of here, yeah. I'm not going to warn you again."

"… Do it…"

Instantly, the dozen and some men leaped for Deidara and Tobi. Hana screamed. There's no way they'd make it! _What have I done? I should have just gone with him. Oh my God… Please don't be-_

"RUN, HANA!" She couldn't hear where Deidara's voice was coming from, but she wasn't going to run. She wouldn't leave him.

"I'll go with him! Please just stop!"

"RUN OR YOU'LL DIE TOO, DAMN IT!"

She stood frozen stiff, tears brimming in her eyes. Even if she wanted to move, her legs wouldn't allow it. A sudden force took her off her feet and into a thicket between the trees.

"Katsu!"

The earth beneath her trembled as the ground where Deidara, Tobi and the other ninja had just stood was blown apart. Before she could even respond, she was grabbed by the shoulders and looking into a single blue eye.

"Run, Hana. There's still more. Go, yeah."

She ran. She wasn't going to argue with a man who had just… _Killed those people… to protect me... But… he killed them… Just RUN, Hana! _The branches smacked her face as she sprinted through the trees. Her heart was pounding and her breath ragged. She was scared out of her mind. _Wait. No_. She stopped running. This was wrong. She couldn't just run and abandon her friends like this. She knew there wasn't much she could do, but she couldn't just leave them like this. She turned and headed back using landmarks to find her way like Tobi and Deidara had taught her. It didn't take her long to find them. When she did, she stopped at the edge of the tree line. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw what had made her freeze.

It was just Deidara, Tobi and the rich man left. He was held in place by Tobi while Deidara held a kunai to his throat. Even in his predicament, he was still defiant.

"Do you know who I fucking am? I am Shiruka Takamoto, the owner of more half the city you took that bitch from!"

"I don't give a damn who you are," Deidara said. "All I care about is the fact that you know who we are. It makes this easier knowing you're a piece of dirt womanizer, yeah. Who sent you? That Kaimaru guy?"

"Why would he send me? I don't need anyone's permission to get what I want, and I'm sure as hell not afraid of a little shit like you!"

"Tough words coming from a man who looks like he's about to cry, yeah."

Shiruka's indeed couldn't hide his fear. The look in this blonde man's eyes was terrifying, a mixture of derangement and fury. "Look," he said. "I really don't know who you were. I just hired some guys to track you all down and knowing you were ninja, I thought I'd be able to scare you with numbers."

"Then how'd you know Hana was with us?" Tobi asked.

"I overheard two women in the kitchen of the inn talking about her leaving with a blonde guy after the big one knocked Kaimaru out. I knew it was you so I came to get her... She was mine. I was willing to pay a lot of money for her-ugh!" Tobi had tightened his grip on Shiruka's arms.

"Yeah well you had a reason for paying so much for her, yeah. Why's she still worth that much to you now?"

A cocky grin spread across Shiruka's face. "I also heard that nothing happened between you two that night. Why was that, blondie? Did you just have her blow you or did you not want her to see your baby di-AAAH!"

Two kunai pierced Shiruka's arms. Tobi released him as Deidara retracted them and delivered a heavy punch to his face.

"I'm tired of you, yeah. Tobi… get out of the way."

"You're… You're insane! They'll come looking for me!"

"And they might find an ear or a finger or two. That's all."

Shiruka got up and ran, heading right for Hana. She didn't have to move, couldn't dodge Shiruka or the blood splatter. A kunai had pierced right through his throat, his blood peppering her clothes and face. She stood there, shaking, her eyes wide and no longer holding back tears. Her mind was blank; her face was pale. Then Deidara's gaze met hers. By the time he saw her it was too late.

"Hana…"

She bolted. She didn't even know where she was going. She just had to get away; it didn't matter where she ended up. She didn't get far. Deidara landed in front her and she smacked into his chest. She fell back and frantically backed away until she hit a tree. She was cornered.

"Hana," Deidara said as he walked toward her, "you weren't supposed to-"

"Are you going to kill me too? And Dani and Atsune? They know who you are too! I swear I won't tell anyone and neither will they! Please, just don't-"

"Hana! I'm not going to kill you, yeah. Why would I save you just to bring you out here and kill you and then go all the way back there to kill them too? They don't even know my name. That guy had it coming anyway. He was a piece of shit that deserved to die. I'm sorry but I won't apologize for killing him. I told you to go so you wouldn't have to see it…" He kneeled down to look into Hana's eyes. When he tried to touch her hand she jerked away. "Hana… I promised I would never hurt you. Now come on. We need to go, yeah."

"Hana-chan! Senpai!" Tobi had caught up with them. "Why are you on the ground, Hana-chan? Get up, I have something for you."

Hana wiped her eyes with her sleeve, smearing the blood. When she lowered it, she saw the crimson liquid and began to hyperventilate.

"Shit…" Deidara honestly felt bad for her. She'd never seen death before, and when it did happen, it was him who did the killing. It didn't help that it happened right in front of her face and now she was wearing it. He pulled Hana to her feet, pushed through the trees and brought her to the edge of the river that fed into the lake he and Hana had bathed in. He dipped his hand into the water and wiped the blood from Hana's face. He had to get her breathing right again.

"Hana, calm down, yeah!" He patted her back and told her to steady her breathing, but it wasn't helping. Seconds later, Hana collapsed.

**End of chapter 7. Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think!**


End file.
